Hi Ho! ArcelorMittal USA putting Cliffs Natural Resources back to work at United Taconite

DULUTH, Minn. — Cliffs Natural Resources says a new 10-year contract to supply custom-made taconite pellets to a major steelmaker means it’s calling workers back to its United Taconite mine and plant on the Iron Range. Check for Cliffs Natural Resources jobs here.

Cliffs said in an announcement Tuesday that ArcelorMittal USA has agreed to buy 7 to 10 million long tons of pellets from Cliffs.

President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves tells the Duluth News Tribune Cliffs is already starting to call back key employees to reopen United Taconite, which was shuttered last August by the slump in the steel and iron industries, idling more than 400 workers.

Plans call for “U Tac,” which includes a mine in Eveleth and processing plant in Forbes, to be fully staffed by October 15th, the News Tribune says.

The plant is also getting a $65 million upgrade to produce the new kind of “superflux” pellet for an ArcelorMittal steel mill in Indiana that MPR News says has the largest blast furnace in America.

READ MORE of this story at Twin Cities Business by William Wilcoxen. Photo courtesy of Cliffs Natural Resources.